Anyone who knows me knows that October is one of my favorite times of year. The air gets crisp, the crabapples are ripe, and any snow that falls is a cause for joy instead of grumbling about having to shovel the driveway AGAIN. All that plus a candy filled Halloween? Count me in!
The other thing that seems to happen around this time of year is events! The Alaska SBDC staff has been popping up all over the place at various events and meetings to share the importance of small businesses to Alaska’s economic future.
You can read about some of the Alaska Startup Week events we participated in as well as the Hispanic Heritage Month round tables and more in this month’s newsletter.
For those of you in the Anchorage area, the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention is coming up October 19-21. It’s an incredible gathering of Alaska’s diverse indigenous peoples and organizations. Swing on by and check out the Alaska SBDC booth (#53) to hear about what we’re doing to support indigenous entrepreneurship and rural business development! Afterwards you can support local entrepreneurs by buying some of the amazing Alaska Native art that’s for sale.
Speaking of buying local, the BuyAlaska Holiday Gift Guide is taking submissions for this year’s guide! Make sure to submit your business for inclusion. If for no other reason than to help me figure out what to buy my friends and family this year, I’m terrible at picking gifts.
Last but not least I hope you’ll send congratulations to our amazing team in Fairbanks. Longtime Fairbanks Center Director Russ Talvi is retiring after many years of dedicated service and Fairbanks Business Advisor Jade Greene is replacing him as the new Center Director. Huge thanks and applause to both of them for all of the important work they do for businesses in the Interior!
Whether your business is focused on ramping up for the holiday sales rush or winding down for the off-season, I hope that you’ll reach out to the Alaska SBDC to help you plan your next step, find new funding, access new markets and more. We’re here to help make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality, especially if they involve a solution to all the snow shoveling I suspect I’m going to end up doing this year…
Jon Bittner
Alaska SBDC Executive Director